Standing view · housing · County Durham
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-07.
Households served a no-fault eviction notice and owed a prevention duty in County Durham rose to 60 in the first quarter of 2026. The average house price rose from £135,260 in March 2026 to £138,148 in June, and rents rose in every reading: a two-bedroom home cost £563 a month in March, £568 in May, £571 in June and £574 in July, and a three-bedroom home £676 in April. Rising prices and rents alongside more eviction notices is a consistent picture of a tightening market.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about County Durham. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Prevention duty, section 21 notice | 2026-Q1 | deteriorating |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Average house price | 2026-03 | — |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-03 | rising |
| Average private rent, three bedrooms | 2026-04 | rising |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-05 | rising |
| Average house price | 2026-06 | — |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-06 | rising |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-07 | rising |